[square]ºPlymouth 12, Highland 1: Hackworth, who was Tippecanoe Valley's top pitcher this past season as a junior, mowed down Highland. He allowed one hit through the first five innings. Highland managed a run in the sixth. Hackworth finished up allowing one run on three hits, striking out 10 and walking one.

"It was hot out there," Hackworth said. "I had a lot of sweat down on me, so I wasn't as on with the fastball with everything weighing down on it, but overall I felt great. With their main hitters, I was trying to work off-speed and make them get out in front of it and hit ground balls. The curveball was effective. Sometimes the change-up was on, but mostly the curve."

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Plymouth roughed up Highland's Jordan Minch, a Purdue pitching recruit, for seven runs in five innings.

"We were very patient early," Plymouth coach Tony Plothow said. "(Minch) had some control problems early and we put the bat on the ball and forced them to make some plays. We didn't get the gappers every time. We had some little bleeders, but we'll take those. We had some real good base-running plays. I thought (Sean) Knepper hit the ball tonight. He came up big with some hits."

Sean Rogers belted three hits, scored three times and drove in two runs. Sean Knepper punched out a pair of hits and drove in three runs for Plymouth. Nick Latham contributed two hits, three RBI's and scored twice. Chase Peters had two hits, as did Aaron Christenberry. Brock Anson scored twice and contributed one hit and an RBI.